Two proposals that will be before voters this May have drawn the ire of Republican leaders in the state House and Senate, who called language written by the Wolf administration “prejudicial.”
Spotlight PA
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A huge spike in Medicaid enrollment in Pa. shows how devastating the coronavirus has been
Enrollment in the program rose by more than 388,000 people, or 13.7%, including in counties that, historically, have been wealthier than some of their counterparts.
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Child sex abuse survivors in Pa. denied legal relief as emergency effort fails
A Wolf administration blunder derailed a traditional constitutional amendment to provide legal relief for survivors of child sex abuse, leading lawmakers to pursue the emergency option.
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Levine pressed for answers on Pa.’s missing nursing home data as confirmation advances
U.S. House and Senate Republicans also want more information on the state’s overall response to nursing homes, citing several Spotlight PA reports.
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Hopes dim that Pa. lawmakers will push through emergency relief for clergy abuse victims
A proposed constitutional amendment was derailed by “human error” within Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, leading lawmakers to pursue the rarely used, emergency tactic.
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See how much lawmakers banked in meal, lodging payments during the pandemic
Despite a statewide shutdown and remote voting, Pennsylvania state lawmakers — led by House Democrats — banked hundreds of thousands of dollars in flat-rate payments for meals and lodging.
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Partisan Pa. websites masquerading as local news threaten trust in journalism, new report finds
Both Republican and Democratic groups are seeking to exploit the growing void in local news through outlets that fail basic journalistic standards, according to a report by NewsGuard.
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During height of coronavirus pandemic, Pa. lawmakers still cashed in big on meals, lodging
They collected $726,877 from taxpayers in per diem payments, in addition to being among the highest paid in the country. House Democrats received the most.
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5 things to know about the minimum wage debate in Pa.
Republican opposition to minimum wage increases has long focused on what raising overhead might force businesses to do to offset those higher payroll costs
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Pa. audit confirms Biden got more votes than Trump, but can’t tell us much else
While the audit’s results indicate a high degree of confidence in the outcome, they cannot answer some of the finer questions about how the election was run.
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From tests to vaccines, Pa. health officials still missing crucial race data for COVID-19
Race and ethnicity data is key to informing vaccine outreach efforts to communities disproportionately affected by the virus, local health officials told Spotlight PA.
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A Pennsylvania county went from bust to boom times with natural gas. Now, it’s nearly broke.
Commissioners, led by Republicans, raised taxes amid a pandemic and for the first time since 2010, despite the county having received more than $37 million in gas impact fees.
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A business owner’s guide to Pa.’s next wave of COVID-19 relief grants
The aid is targeted at businesses with fewer than 300 employees that have lost at least 25% of their sales as a result of the pandemic.
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Top Pa. senator appoints colleague’s wife to lucrative Gaming Control Board seat
Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman named Frances Regan, the wife of Sen. Mike Regan, to serve a two-year term on the board, which comes with a $145,000 annual salary.
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Victims of unemployment fraud in Pa. are blindsided by tax documents
Thousands of apparent victims of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance fraud have received unexpected tax documents reporting income to the IRS they never took.
